Handing over the keys on completion- when?

[Erlack]

I've just been emailing my solicitor with some of the details in the run up to completion in 2 weeks time- basically confiming we are moving out before the date of entry and then I would drop the keys off at her office on the morning of the completion. She's come back to say they need the keys the day before as they send them in the post to the buyers' solicitor. I am a bit .

Is it normal to expect people to move out of their property the day before? It just so happens I booked the removal for then to try to cut down on last minute panic since I know it will take a bit of time to get out and I wanted a chance to clean up properly before the new people get in.

Why not give one key for them to send so they have it for completion, and on the day when you are waving, pop ur keys through the letterbox. It's not really your problem though, the buyer should be making arrangements to collect keys from your solicitor.

Waving?? Leaving!

Never heard of posting keys before - we picked ours up from the previous owner as they packed up the last few bits - I thought that was the normal way. We moved house 5 years ago so fairly recent

Every time we have moved into a house we have picked up the keys from the vendor's EA. Or the EA has brought them.

I've never heard of solicitors posting keys or handing them in prior to completion either - we've always had them from the sellers / given them to the buyers on the day, although officially I think there are options like leaving them at the estate agents, but that said, surely you can hand over one set and keep another set for using until the last minute ?

We got ours from the vendor's EA on the day of completion and we left ours in our house as pur EA already had a set to.give our buyer.

I expect we will be waving as we are leaving.

Ah, yes, of course, I can hold on to one set and drop off the other. I guess I was just a bit flummoxed that there was this expectation that keys would be available the day before- and like others, in my experience I have always gone to the vendor's solicitors to pick them up. It seems a bit daft to post them when the respective solicitors are just along the road from each other as well.

I've always picked up from the vendors EA on completion. Which this time will be interesting as I've never been there and don't know the town it's in very well as we will be new to the area.

Also meant to say I'd be worried about them posting stuff so important the day before for it to definitely be there. It sounds like too many stages for something to go wrong get lost.

posting keys? Nonsense. No-one does that. The estate agents handle them.

drop off one set with your estate agent a day or two before and confirm that they are secured to your satisfaction. When you leave, either drop off the second set, or hurl them through the letterbox IF you are sure they can't be 'fished' before the buyers arrive.

I left my house two days before completion and did that. The agents will NOT release the keys until the sellers solicitor confirms that they have all the money. Which is how it worked when I bought the next house.

I don't think I would be dropping keys off before completion. Until you complete the house is still yours. I think that moment of handing over keys is when everything is signed and sealed. Although incredibly rare and expensive something could still go wrong if the completion hasn't happened. If they want to post the keys they can post them once you complete and if that means the buyer gets them a day late then that's their issue. They could always do what everyone else does and go collect the keys from the EA.

I'm in Scotland so my EA is also my solicitor. I expect they send them by document exchange rather than normal post so not so much risk the buyers solicitor won't get them in time. But it still seems a bit weird to me- I do think the buyers should just swing by and pick up the keys from my solicitors, which is what has happened with every other property I gave ever bought but my agent is adamant that they have to send a set over.

Must remind my solicitor that I do NOT want to have to drive back 60 miles to collect keys from her when our purchase goes through in our new town.

I am Scotland too and an estate agent! I wasn't sure when answering if this was how its done in England, obviously not though!!